Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/782

Rh 758 PRISON DISCIPLINE we entirely cellular ; two in particular may be mentioned, that of Utakamaii l and that of Hazaribagh, both of which are for European convicts. &quot;The remainder,&quot; says Dr Mouatt, formerly inspector general of prisons in Bengal, &quot; are built on every conceivable plan ; a large number of them are miserable mud structures, which are constantly being washed away by heavy rain, and as constantly pro vide work for the prisoners in repairing them.&quot; A few of them are radiating, and nearly all provide for the separation by night of the male and female prisoners ; and there is a certain rough classifica tion according to sentence. All work is in association, except when prisoners are kept in cells for misconduct. The proportion of cell accommodation, when Dr Mouatt wrote, was barely 10 per cent. Work is mostly intramural, and generally remunerative and in dustrial. Prisoners are occasionally employed out of doors in gangs upon canals and other public works. The ironing of prisoners where prisons are insecure still prevails as a safeguard against escape. Prison punishments are generally severe, and include flogging, fetters, penal labour, and complete isolation. The whole question of prison discipline in India is strictly subordinated to financial considerations, and the svstem in consequence lacks uniformity and completeness. Austria. It was not until 1867 that the Austrian Government declared in favour of a system of cellular imprisonment. Till then all prisoners had been kept in association, but at the date above mentioned a recommendation that separation should be the rule was made to the reichsrath and approved. Owing to the expense of reconstructing or converting prisons, the principle could not be generally adopted ; moreover, the Austrian authorities were not in favour of continuous isolation. Hence the practice adopted was a combination of the two methods. Short imprisonments might be endured entirely in separate cells ; every prisoner might pass the first part of a long term in a cell, but the isolation was not to exceed eight months, the remainder of the sentence to be undergone in association or collectively, due regard being had to the classifica tion of the prisoners brought together. This classification is based upon the individual s age, education, state of mind, and former life, and the nature of his crime. The progress made in the erection of cellular prisons has not been very rapid. Although the total number of prisoners in Austria-Hungary exceeds 17,000, up to the end of 1879 only 1050 cells had been provided, viz., at Gratz 252, at Stein 348, at Pilsen 387, and at Karthaus 63, while two small Erisons for trial prisoners have also been built at Cilli and Reichen- erg. These new prisons are, however, very complete and perfect ; they .have all modern appliances, chapels, hospitals, workshops, and baths ; the cells are spacious, and well ventilated, lighted, and warmed. Two days of cellular imprisonment, after three months have elapsed, count as three in association. There is no distinctly penal labour. In separation prisoners follow such trades as shoe- making, tailoring, weaving, button-making, wood-carving ; women are employed in embroidery, spinning, quill-pen making, and knitting. In association the principal employments are carpenter ing, coopering, smith s work, brick-making ; and a number of the more trustworthy prisoners have helped to construct railways and lay down roads. As a rule the prisoners labour is let out to con tractors ; this plan is preferred as relieving the state of all risks, while officials are more at liberty to attend to the pure disciplinary treatment of the prisoners. As a rule every prisoner who enters ignorant of a trade is taught one in prison. Prisoners can earn substantial wages ; where contractors are employed, the prisoners receive half what is paid over, after all costs have been deducted. Half of the earnings may be spent in the prison canteen in the purchase of luxuries, including beer and tobacco, or in the support of a prisoner s family, or in the purchase of clothing to be worn on discharge. There is only one Liberated Prisoner Aid Society, &quot; which is established at Vienna, and which does good service in supporting prisoners until they find occupation, and providing them with money, clothes, and tools. Speaking generally, there are three lasses of prisons in Austria- Hungary, viz., for minor offences, and for prisoners sentenced to terms less than one year and to terms of one year and upwards respectively. The treatment of the incarcerated is humane : their diet is sufficient ; they have good beds and bed ding ; the sick are cared for in hospitals ; the labour of the able- bodied is not excessive, although supposed to extend over ten hours daily. Religious services are provided for, and non-Roman-Catholic prisoners may be seen by ministers of their own form of faith. Prison administration is under the minister of justice, who dele gates his powers to an inspector ywral of prisons. Commissions of inspection are appointed t ,.-:. all the cellular prisons monthly, and there are also local boards of management and control. Bclfjium. Prison discipline has perhaps received as close atten tion in Belgium as anywhere in the world. In 1835, when the great movement towards prison reform was in progress, Belgium first adopted the cellular system experimentally by constructing thirty- two cells in connexion with the old prison at Ghent. After a trial of nine years a verdict was passed in favour of cellular separa tion and it was authoritatively adopted in 1844. Progress was steady if not rapid ; by degrees many cellular prisons were built ; and up to the present date (1885) twenty-four are in existence. A model prison for 600 on the same plan is in process of construction at Brussels, and three others, smaller, will soon be finished. Bel gium has unhesitatingly accepted the rule of absolute separation as regards all prisoners, whatever the duration of their sentences. That solitude which disastrous results in England have strictly limited to either nine months, or, under certain modifications, to two years, may be enforced in Belgian prisons for at least ten years. At the end of that period a prisoner may claim to go into associa tion, and they are then removed to Ghent, where they work and cat in company but have separate sleeping cells. Separation, again, is. not insisted upon with the sickly, or those whose minds appear weak ; while all upon whom cellular imprisonment has failed may also in due course be removed to association. But for the rest the separate system is the invariable rule, and it is carried out with careful and unvarying sternness. The prisoner never leaves his cell save for chapel or exercise ; at the former he is in a separate box or compartment; the latter he takes alone in a narrow yard. His life, however, is not one of absolute solitude. He is visited fre quently by his warders and schoolmasters and trade instructors j chaplain, governor, and doctor also break the monotony of his life. According to the Belgian view of the case, he &quot;lives in association with the prison staff, not with his fellow criminals. It is claimed for this system, which aims primarily at the reformation of indivi duals, that no evil consequences have as yet been seen to follow from the treatment. Official statistics may be searched in vain for the record of cases of suicide or of mental alienation ; neither are abnormally frequent. On the other hand the Belgian authorities insist that the dread of the punishment has had a marked effect upon crime, and that there is a diminution in the number of second sentences. &quot;Recidivists,&quot; or reconvicted prisoners, are, moreover, subjected to a more rigorous discipline. There are three classes of prisons in Belgium ; the mciisons- d arrct, or prisons of detention, for accused persons undergoing examination oi&amp;gt; awaiting trial ; the inaisons dc stirett, or prisons for the infliction of short sentences ; and the maison ccntrales, which correspond to the English convict prisons. Prisoners awaiting trial, and still innocent in the eyes of the law, are treated with much leniency anil consideration. An arrangement peculiar to the French and Belgian prisons is the privilege of the &quot;pistole.&quot; A prisoner on payment of a certain charge is conceded better accommodation ; he has a room, not a cell, decently furnished, and may provide his own food, have books, see his friends, and do no work. Offenders of the better class, and never previously convicted, are sometimes relegated specially to the pistole by the tribunals ; and the local boards oif visitors have also power to transfer prisoners to this privileged class. Independent of the pistole the law provides three kinds of penalty correctional imprisonment, seclusion, and imprisonment with hard labour. But, except the slight differences as regards privileges of letters and visits, the treatment is identical in all three categories. It is correctional for all ; all prisoners are kept in seclusion ; and there is no hard labour, as we understand it. Purely penal labour does not exist in the Belgian prisons. Public works are obviously impossible ; and there are no tread mills or cranks. The labour is entirely industrial ; but its object is rather to reform individuals than to produce profit to the state. With strict cellular confinement the range of prison indus tries is generally limited to sedentary employment ; but, besides weaving, tailoring, shoemaking, book-binding, and so forth, various handicrafts are practised. The prisoner s labour is partly let out to contractors, partly utilized by the authorities. A portion of the earnings for work done goes to the prisoners ; and part of the money may be spent in the purchase of better food or tobacco, where it is permitted, from the canteen. No pains are spared to instruct the prisoners ; those ignorant of any trade are regularly appren ticed and taught, the idea being to provide every one with a means of livelihood on release. The severity, not to say cruelty, of the strict rule of separation is mitigated as far as possible by the pater nal solicitude of the authorities. The administrative arrange ments of the Belgian prisons are nearly perfect. The buildings are spacious the halls lofty, light, and airy ; the cells are of ample dimensions, carefully ventilated, well-lighted, and well- warmed. An abundant water supply assists the sanitary services ; dietaries are sufficient and well-chosen, soup with plenty of vegetables forming an especial feature in them. School instruction is available for all. There are well-supplied libraries. The hospitals are clean and spacious, fitted with every necessary, and the percentage of patients under treatment is usually small. An epidemic of ophthalmia was, however, long present in the reformatory prison of St Hubert. An independent system of visitation is supposed to protect the prisoners from ill usage ; local boards composed of local functionaries exercise constant supervision and control over the prisons in their vicinity. The central administration is intelligent ; and the prison service being esteemed highly honourable attracts good men to recruit its ranks. Female prisons are exclusively managed by the nuns of some religious order in the locality. Besides the prisons of punishment for adults, there are two establishments in Belgium